At my absolute wits end with bed time

I’m getting so F’ING fed up with these bed time battles. No matter what we do he’s taking hours to settle. I’m sure at this age they still need to have a nap? But I feel like anything over 30 mins absolutely screws us over for bedtime and I’m struggling to cope with it. He’s becoming a nightmare, super hyper, telling us to go away - then when we do he cry’s for us. He woke from his nap at 1:30pm so why now are we still awake with him!!!! Please help a desperate mum 😱😩

We have a good routine, some milk, books and songs in bed. Dimmed lights, you name it we do it

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Deffo cut nap. It’s hard first few weeks but honestly will change your life.. we wake at 6ish and he goes down for 6… sleeps right through never wakes…
At start cut nap and have a super super chilled afternoon, no pram rides or car rides out and do low key watch a movie read and offer lots of snacks to keep them going… we had this to the point a 20 minute nap ment 9-10pm bed and it was a fight! And he was waking up after a few hours, Now he dives into his bed we read a book and he falls asleep and is sounders the whole time

urgh that’s so encouraging to hear. I asked the health visitor at his check the other week and she couldn’t be MORE passionate about how they still need a good solid nap in the day….and I was like but we’re losing our minds 😂

We had this exact issue and we cut the nap, and now bedtime is bliss! Lol xx for now...anyway..

Agree with the ladies above. Cut the nap. I gave my daughter a nap today as my 9 month old has been really difficult and I needed the break from
having 2 all day and she only just went to sleep at 10pm. If she doesn’t nap she can be asleep by 6:30 without any fuss and sleeps right through sometimes until 8 or 9!!!

My son started dropping naps just before 2! ...he seems to have fully stopped about now (27 months old)...and he's still up now haha! Honestly they're so different. My son definitely doesn't need at lot of sleep compared to the "average".

Highly recommend Sarah Ockwell-Smith's books...think she has a specific one on sleep. She talks through development physically and psychologically at different ages in such a clear and practical way...helps you know what to expect and gives practical advice to navigate difficult things xx

Best advice is to not stress over bedtimes or nap times (obviously if they have to be up at a specific time for nursery or a play group then that's a thing, but if they need a nap one day that's fine then not another...we were surprised the other day when my son had a nap! But we were away and it had been a morning/early afternoon with lots of outside time! Xx

We were the same.... any nap no matter how short, he would reset for another 9+hours. Our boy is on the go constantly and we had no time alone.

We cut the nap and he crashes on the sofa just after 6pm and i carry him up (I know, not ideal but we'll work onnthat later) Afternoons can occasionally be 'tricky' but we offer plenty of food and wind down with a film.

Sometimes he will get a cheeky midday car nap in or doze on the sofa and on those days we prepare to have him with us until we go to bed.

Thanks so much everyone. I defo think he’s getting close to dropping it now as nursery said today he was really hard to get down and he only slept for 30 mins!

All kids are different mine always fought sleep and cut out his naps himself pretty much… just needed a little shove for the last one, couldn’t cope with sitting for 2 hours in his room anymore… luckily if we sit 10 mins now, usually about 5! Game changer

We are the exact same… but more or less cut the nap out and she just drops off at bed time not and it really has made such a difference. She dropped off in car at 11 yesterday for 30 mins was busy all day at a farm then got to bed time at 7 and took us til’ 8:30 🙈🙈

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Bedtime

What time are you getting your LOs down for the night now and how are you finding bedtime? We’ve had the sane routine since my daughter was a few weeks old - bath with her older sister and 6.45, followed by a bottle and ideally in bed by 7.30. This worked at first but over the last few weeks she’s been fighting it a lot and, with the exception of a few days last week which were a lot easier, it’s a bit of a battle to get her down and features a lot of screaming and resettling. Not sure if we are putting her down too early or late? Her last nap is usually a cat nap (30-45 mins) and finishes by 6. She’s pretty good at settling herself from a night feed, but seems to be unable to do it at bedtime, even with her dummy.